The accomodation for tonight is Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge. We have chosen it because of its grounds, supposedly there are many interesting birds and even some mammals that can be seen. But first we have to find it, there is no sign from the main road as we take a dirt road through the village. We are happy to see a sign and park at the end but a girl working there is trying to explain that this is not the right place. In the end she decides to jump into the car with us and directs us to a different parking lot, much closer to the lodge but with no signs pointing to it, weird.
Now it is time to check in, as usually here they request our passports and lots of information but finally it is done and we are led to our room across the lawn.
The room is surprisingly large with an entrance area, sleeping area, wardrobe, bath and toilet. It is quite nice also and we enjoy the feeling of having finally arrived in Tanzania.
While one of us goes to sleep, we are quite tired, the second one goes outside to explore the grounds using the map in the room. The fort in the middle of the lawn is quite small, embarrassingly so.
Then it is time to explore the garden, from where the vegetables are collected for dinner, and the pool. Along the way there are also some interesting birds already, but they are quite skittish and difficult to photograph in the bush.
Next would be the lake if only the right trail can be found. Most trails start and end at the main building and finally it is clear, the lake has to be down the hillside on which the main building sits.
And yes, there it is, a beautiful lake. The trail descends at the bridge where on the other side the parking where we initially arrived can be seen. It would have been quite a walk and a climb from there so we are grateful to the girl who directed us to the better parking. Here is also a water channel similar to the levadas in Madeira we have seen last year and serving the same function quite likely.
Now it is the time to look for birds on the lake. The first bird that can be seen is a Little Grebe quite common here at Ngare Sero and quite fearless really.
More exciting are the Reed Cormorants, our first lifers that we can identify, and an African Jacana in the reeds.
This is the place where we meet our first Blue Monkeys, the subspecies here is called Sykes’s Monkey and the first troop can be seen passing through the trees right next to the lake.
Another major bird find on the lake trails is the Brown-hooded Kingfisher, another lifer for us and not something we expected to see already.
However the major attraction here are the African Black Ducks and they wait for quite some time before putting in an appearance but at least when they do they are both close and not that skittish, nice. It is also the only place where we will see them on the trip so we were lucky to see them. And then it is time for us to reunite with the hiking part of the duo returning to wake up the sleeping part.
On the way it is time to pass closer to the main building to identify where the dinner is happening. There is also a beautiful view of Mt Meru from here, one of the largest mountains in Africa.
The sleeping part of the duo is not sleeping anymore due to another troop of Sykes’ Monkeys dancing and jumping on the roof. Reunited we descend again to the lake looking for anything interesting and find a group of Grosbeak Weavers hard at work building the nests.
And then it is time for dinner. There are only two groups of tourists here and the menu is a la carte. Dinner is not included here for us but we want to celebrate our arrival with some good food. And good it is, the fish main is quite enjoyable with lots of vegetables.
We also order a lasagna, which is a tasty interpretation of the Italian dish and is served with salad that we hope is washed with clean water. And yes it is, at least here, no gastric issues afterwards. And then it is time to sleep as tomorrow we have a long day planned.
We wake up quite early in the morning at 6AM before sunrise and go to eat breakfast. We have to wake up early as we are meeting with our birding guides for the morning about 40 minutes away and the meeting is after 7AM. So Ngare Sero accomodated us and they open the kitchen early specially for us for breakfast which is great but also means it takes a bit for them to start cooking.
Overall it takes about half hour to receive the hot breakfast food, local porridge and Eggs Benedict, and eat it and then it is time to start our birding adventure if we can only get to our birding guides and then to the Engikaret Plains.
